Link to the EDOC page with all EPFL Distinction winners
2025 2024
Winners of the
“EPFL Outstanding Ph.D Thesis Distinction in Civil and Environmental Engineering”
2025
Dr. Steffen Hartmeyer
PhD in the Laboratory of Integrated Performance in Design, LIPID
Thesis title: Tracing the (in)visible: Methodological advances in light-dosimetry to support integrative lighting research
Modern life, largely spent indoors, has disrupted natural patterns of light exposure—altering the intensity, spectrum, and timing of light that humans experience on a daily basis. These changes impact not only vision but also key physiological and psychological functions such as circadian rhythms, sleep, and alertness. As people become increasingly disconnected from natural light cycles, aligning light exposure with human biology is essential for promoting good health and wellbeing. A promising tool in this endeavour is light-dosimetry, which uses wearable sensors to measure personal light exposure in real-world settings. This method enables the study of diverse populations and helps link light exposure to non-visual responses and health outcomes. However, the field of light-dosimetry remains in its early stages and lacks standardised procedures, limiting study comparability and data interpretation.
In my thesis I sought to advance the field by addressing methodological challenges and introducing innovative approaches for capturing the temporal, spectral, and spatial characteristics of personal light exposure. It reviews key considerations for light measurement, proposes new metrics for analysing complex sensor data, and demonstrates practical applications in both intervention and observational studies. By examining how built environments and personal behaviour shape light exposure, my research highlights the interplay between lighting conditions and human health—especially in contexts like workplaces and among vulnerable populations such as nightshift workers. Overall, this work supports future research directions as well as the development of integrative lighting strategies grounded in real-world data, offering a foundation for evidence-based practices that align lighting design with biological needs to improve health and wellbeing.
Currently in a transition phase, I am seeking new avenues to apply my knowledge and expertise to shape and create built environments that better align with our human biological and psychological needs.
Dr. Roman Pohorsky
PhD in the Extreme Environments Research Laboratory, EERL
Thesis title: Linking the Thermodynamic Structure of the Lower Atmosphere to the Vertical Dispersion of Pollutants and Aerosol–Cloud Interactions
Aerosols are tiny particles suspended in the air, originating from natural sources such as sea spray or volcanic ash, as well as from human activities including vehicle exhaust or combustion processes, affecting both air quality and climate. These impacts depend strongly on the dispersion and location of aerosols, including their vertical distribution. To accurately constrain their effects, a correct representation of their vertical distribution in models is essential. However, observations to constrain such models remain scarce, especially in polar regions, where the atmosphere is often characterized by weak vertical mixing.
In my thesis, I addressed this observational gap by developing an instrumental platform attached to a tethered balloon to perform vertical profiling of aerosols in the atmosphere. This platform offers several advantages compared to other observational approaches, such as remote sensing or in situ measurements from crewed aircraft, thereby filling an important need.
My PhD spanned the full development cycle, from the initial concept to the design, assembly, and continuous improvement of the system. I participated in several international field campaigns in Alaska, Finland, and on the Arctic Ocean, where the tethered balloon was deployed and collected valuable and unique data. Across these deployments, the system proved its value and gained increasing recognition within the scientific community. My research addressed both air quality issues, where we observed how anthropogenic emissions in Arctic urban environments become trapped near the surface and accumulate during winter, and aerosol–cloud interactions. For the latter, unique observations of aerosols just below, inside, and above Arctic clouds shed new light on the role of aerosols located above clouds in shaping cloud microphysical properties. This research has provided new insights into key processes that are typically difficult to study due to the lack of appropriate observational methods.
In my current position as a postdoctoral researcher, I am building on this work to further expand our capacity for vertical aerosol profiling by addressing the remaining bottlenecks that limit more systematic deployments. A quasi-fully automated version of the system is now under development, and its first deployments are showing strong potential, indicating that my PhD work was only the beginning of a longer scientific endeavor.
Winners of the
“EPFL Outstanding Ph.D Thesis Distinction in Civil and Environmental Engineering”
2024
Dr. Janody Pougala
PhD in the Transport and mobility laboratory, TRANSP-OR
Thesis title: OASIS : An integrated optimisation framework for activity scheduling Advisors
Designing efficient, sustainable, and equitable transport and urban systems requires a deep understanding of daily mobility behavior, which centers around individuals and their interactions with the environment. Activity-based travel demand models, which assume travel demand is derived from the need to do activities, are flexible tools that can provide behaviorally realistic insights for various applications.
In my thesis, I developed, estimated, and implemented OASIS (Optimisation-based Activity Scheduling with Integrated Simultaneous choice dimensions), an integrated framework to simulate activity schedules for given individuals. Activity scheduling can be approached as an optimization problem: individuals schedule their day to maximize the satisfaction they derive from the activities they complete while still fulfilling their needs and external constraints. Innovating from the state-of-the-art, OASIS solves the problem by considering all choice dimensions (activity participation, location, schedule, duration and transportation mode) simultaneously, meaning that we can capture trade-offs between different scheduling decisions (e.g., spending less time in an activity to ensure enough time for another one, or choosing locations where multiple activities can be performed). The output is a distribution of likely schedules for each given individual, which can be used to make more accurate transport simulations and design behaviorally-minded policies. OASIS has been successfully implemented in industry and academic collaborations, showcasing the model’s versatility and potential for contributions in different research domains.
As a postdoctoral researcher in the Mobility and Behavior Lab at Northwestern University, I am currently involved in multiple projects using behavioral modeling to achieve transport equity and environmental justice for underserved populations.
Dr. Patrick Stokkink
PhD in the Urban Transport Systems Laboratory, LUTS
Thesis title: Optimizing the utilization of existing vehicle flows in last-mile passenger transport and logistics systems
The new era of shared economy has raised our expectations to make mobility more sustainable through better utilization of existing resources and capacity. In my thesis, I focus on the design of transport systems that stimulate multi-purpose trips with the aim of reducing congestion while simultaneously leveraging the existing commuters better. Multi-purpose trips can improve the efficiency, sustainability, and profitability of passenger transport systems, through vehicle relocation in vehicle-sharing systems and ride-sharing. Similar improvements can be made in last-mile logistics systems, through crowd-shipping.
This research addresses real-world challenges in modern transportation systems, particularly crowd-shipping, car-sharing, and carpooling, by developing scalable, data-driven, and mathematically rigorous solutions. The approaches blend transportation engineering with operations research and logistics to address complex issues in transportation and logistics systems.
As an assistant professor at the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management at the Delft University of Technology, I will continue to work on improving sustainability of transport and logistics systems. The concept or improving the utilization of resources and capacity will continue to be a fundament of my research. As a part of this, I will work on integrating passenger and freight transport, across a multi-modal transportation system.
Dr. Paraskevi Georgakaki
PhD in the Laboratory of atmospheric processes and their impacts, LAPI
Thesis title: The role of secondary ice production in mixed-phase clouds
Clouds are ubiquitous in the Earth’s atmosphere, playing a crucial role in weather and climate. Their composition—whether they consist of liquid water, ice, or a mix of both—affects how they interact with solar and terrestrial radiation, as well as how much precipitation they produce. Mixed-phase clouds, which contain both liquid water and ice, are particularly complex and require detailed representation in weather and climate models. However, key processes such as ice multiplication—where ice crystal concentrations increase significantly at relatively warm subzero temperatures—are often neglected in these models.
In my doctoral research, I investigated how ice microphysical processes shape the distribution of liquid water and ice in mixed-phase clouds. By updating the microphysics scheme of a widely used numerical weather prediction model to account for ice multiplication, I simulated snowfall events over mountainous regions. These simulations revealed the critical role of collisions between ice and snow particles, which fragment upon impact, significantly elevating cloud ice concentrations and enhancing snowfall or rainfall reaching the ground. Comparisons with meteorological radar observations revealed distinct signatures associated with ice multiplication, suggesting the potential for systematic detection of these processes using remote sensing data. Recognizing the need to represent these microphysical processes efficiently in large-scale models, I developed a simplified framework for incorporating ice multiplication in polar mixed-phase clouds using machine learning techniques. This framework, now integrated into three European global climate models for the upcoming CMIP7 climate assessment, is expected to improve the representation of precipitation and mixed-phase cloud properties in climate simulations.
Currently, as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Leipzig, I am exploring the surprising link between smoke particles from extreme wildfires and ice formation in the upper atmosphere. Supported by an SNSF Postdoc.Mobility fellowship, this research is particularly timely given the rising frequency and intensity of extreme events like wildfires in a warming climate.
Best Poster award 2025
Yahel Eliyahu-Yakir, 1st prize
Title: Root Asymmetry growth in response to hydromechanical Forcing Tempers soil ERosion
Our study focuses on the development of azimuthal root asymmetry in plant cuttings as a response to hydrodynamic forces. We differentiate the effects that hydrodynamic forces acting on the plant cutting, stem,dynamotropism, exert on root architecture from that of hyporheic flow. Laboratory experiments were performed using Salix cuttings growing in quartz sand-filled rhizoboxes within a flume stream and undergoing different treatment conditions aimed at isolating flow from force effects. Our experiment reveals that in response to applied force, root biomass increases significantly in the upstream direction, opposite to the force, suggesting a structural adaptation to resist mechanical loading on the aboveground part of the cutting. While force influences overall root production, resulting in approximately 30% greater total biomass upstream than to downstream, flow does not affect the total biomass in either direction. However, flow does influence the vertical distribution of roots along the depth, with a tendency to enhance root growth toward the downstream side, particularly in the middle section of the cutting. Additionally, flow and force promote opposing patterns of root development. Therefore, when both stimuli are applied simultaneously, their relative magnitudes become crucial in determining the final root architecture. In our experimental setup, the mechanical force dominated over the flow stimulus.
Bence Dienes 2nd prize
Predicting soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in montane ecosystems is challenging because predictors such as bedrock, vegetation, topography, and soil properties vary over short spatial scales. Furthermore, information on these predictors is often limited in remote environments, and their acquisition is resource-intensive. Understanding the contribution of each predictor enables a targeted approach for accurately assessing SOC stocks in montane ecosystems.
Here, we conducted an extensive survey of SOC stocks in the top 50 cm of the soil at two Swiss montane sites: Ar du Tsan (VS) and Blatt (VS). For each site, we interpolated SOC stocks between 50 measurement locations using resource-intensive and freely available predictors. The former included soil and vegetation type maps, while the latter included freely available predictors: plant biomass (NDVI), curvature, and published maps for lithology and elevation. We tested different sets of predictors and model parameters. The combination of model and set of predictors with the lowest RMSE was considered the best and was used to interpolate SOC stocks in both study sites.
We found that a random forest regression followed by a kriging interpolation on the model’s residuals yielded the best results. Soil type, a resource-intensive predictor, held the majority of the predictive power among the predictors. However, using only freely available predictors did not significantly deteriorate the model output, as the lowest RMSE that our model could achieve remained relatively high despite a high sampling resolution. Overall, our study emphasises the variability of SOC stocks in montane ecosystems, and the associated challenges of assessment and prediction.
Tianqi Liu, 3rd prize
Accurately assessing occupants’ exposure to indoor air pollutants requires understanding how spatial variability influences inhalation-zone concentrations. However, deploying dense sensor networks is often impractical due to cost and logistics. This study investigates how inhalation-zone exposure can be reliably monitored using a limited number of stationary sensors. By integrating multiscale sensing data—including breathing-zone, wearable, and room-level measurements—the research identifies the most informative sensor locations for predicting inhalation-zone concentrations of CO₂, PM2.5, and PM₁₀. Results show that a small subset of strategically placed sensors can effectively capture inhalation-zone pollutant dynamics, offering a cost-efficient and scalable approach to indoor exposure assessment.
Best Poster Award 2024
Camille Rolland, 1st Prize for the Best poster Award
Poster title: Harnessing microbial processes for hydrogen consumption in a radioactive waste repository
In Switzerland, radioactive waste will be disposed of several hundred meters below ground in a stable geological layer. A major challenge is the risk of pressure build-up due to hydrogen gas production resulting from the anoxic corrosion of steel waste-containing canisters. Gas-porous sand-bentonite will be used as a backfill material to enable the transport of gas out of the disposal caverns. Sand-bentonite also offers an appropriate pore space for an active hydrogenotrophic microbial community to thrive. We need to answer three questions: (1) Can hydrogenotrophic microorganisms adapt to backfill material where water availability is limited? (2) How fast do they consume hydrogen? (3) Is this effective for total pressure reduction? We designed hydrogen-tight reactors to mimic the expected repository conditions. By monitoring the total pressure and gas composition for 3 months, we quantified hydrogen consumption and the resulting total pressure decrease. Gas-phase analysis indicates the activity of methanogens and sulfate-reducing bacteria. This study provides an accurate rate of hydrogen consumption in a porous repository backfill, which can be used to model the evolution of pressure in the repository.
Benjamin Heutte, 2nd Prize for the Best poster Award
Poster title: Sources and processes governing the annual cycle of aerosol chemical composition in the central Arctic
Aerosols play a crucial role in the radiative balance of the Arctic, a place that is warming at faster rates than anywhere else on Earth. However, limited observations in the central Arctic leave gaps in understanding aerosols dynamics year-round, affecting model predictions of climate-relevant aerosol properties. In our study, we used a unique dataset from a year-long ship-based expedition in the central Arctic Ocean (MOSAiC) to investigate the sources, emission processes, and potential radiative impacts of Arctic aerosols. Overall, we found that the annual cycle in aerosol chemical composition was driven by large scale atmospheric dynamics (such as the cyclonic activity), shortwave radiation, and marine biological activity. Our study also highlights the need to integrate short-timescale processes, such as wind-driven aerosol sources, into model simulations, as these were shown to have an important contribution to the fraction of aerosols that can activate into cloud droplets. The results from this study will ultimately serve to improve our understanding of aerosol sources and physicochemical properties, as well as their role in the central Arctic radiative budget, in an effort to improve climate model predictions in the region.
Ce Wen, 3rd Prize for the Best poster Award
Poster Title: Development of Seismic-Resistant Welded Connections for Deconstruction and Reuse of Steel Structures
This poster proposes an innovative beam-to-column connection typology for steel MRFs. The new typology is designed with the primary objective of enhancing the reusability of primary structural members after earthquakes. The design requirements for the envisioned concept are developed via analytical and numerical approaches that leverage inelastic stability theory as well as continuum finite element simulations. Moreover, geometric tolerances in current standards are utilised for quantifying the benefits of the concept and the reusability of structural members undergoing mechanical loading. Finally, the proposed typology will be validated with full-scale beam-to-column subassembly experiments at the large-scale structures laboratory (GIS) at EPFL.
Best Poster Award 2023
Massimo Bourquin – Jury Award
Global Response of Glacier-Fed Stream Bacterial Microbiome to Climate Change
The poster “Global Response of Glacier-Fed Stream Bacterial Microbiome to Climate Change” delves into the implications of climate change on the glacier-fed stream ecosystem. Using a modelling approach combined with a global sampling of glacier-fed streams gathered by the Vanishing Glaciers Project, this study aims at understanding how these unique ecosystems will be altered by the combined effect of climate change and glacier shrinkage, especially the bacterial communities. Under future conditions, the latter are predicted to overall increase in abundance as primary production increases. However, this growth is accompanied by ecological shifts and we highlight potential risks to specific taxa. Additionally, the modelling approach enabled to improve our comprehension of how climate, glacier influence, and physicochemical factors interplay to shape glacier-fed stream ecological communities.
Cloe Cortes Balcells – Audience Award
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic highlights the need to understand human mobility for disease control. Mobility patterns, vital in virus transmission, require modeling individual behaviors. The epidemiological models can be categorized into three types: compartmental, network-based, and activity-based. Although activity-based models demand greater computational resources, they allow a more detailed representation of individual behaviors, positioning them as critical for predicting the spread of a disease. However, the literature indicates that these models tend to focus primarily on infection probabilities, overlooking personal choices like testing decisions. This study refines the activity-based model by integrating latent states for agents’ behavior, combining infection probabilities, and testing propensities based on health and socioeconomic factors.
A core element of our model is the ‘awareness’ indicator modeling if an individual knows to be infected. From a mobility standpoint, awareness is crucial as an individual’s activity-travel behavior is altered only when being aware of the infection. Using a dynamic, fully disaggregated model, we trace each individual’s decision-making sequence, offering a detailed perspective on testing decisions and daily infection dynamics.
Mobility Award winners
Maxwell Bergström
« I am currently in the third year of my PhD at the Plant Ecology Research Lab (PERL). My doctoral research focuses on disentangling the mechanisms underlying leaf discolouration — specifically premature leaf senescence versus leaf scorching — under extreme thermal conditions, contributing to a broader understanding of tree responses to global warming.
To date, I have conducted two experimental manipulations in climate chambers examining the combined effects of heat and drought on three native tree species. In doing so, I developed a methodology capable of distinguishing thermal from hydraulic mechanisms of leaf discolouration, which yielded promising results regarding the isolated effect of heat on various physiological processes.
Through a collaboration with the Desert Botanical Garden Research Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, under the supervision of Prof. Kevin Hultine, I aim to identify the key physiological processes driving premature leaf senescence and leaf scorching under extreme thermal stress. This institution offers access to state-of-the-art climate chambers capable of reaching air temperatures above 55°C, enabling the simulation of episodic heatwave conditions at the thermal limits of plant tolerance — and thus a rigorous investigation into the mechanisms of leaf failure under combined heat and drought stress.
Jie Xue
My PhD project focuses on methanogen physiology under dynamic environmental conditions, where methane production shifts with substrate and nutrient supply. This variability directly impacts methane emissions, making it critical for carbon budgeting and climate prediction. It is equally important for biotechnology, where controlling methanogen responses enables efficient CO2-to-methane conversion for sustainable energy.
So far, I have shown how Methanococcus maripaludis responds to fluctuating gas availability and transient oxygen exposure, linking recovery after H2 or CO2 starvation to intracellular redox dynamics. I also identified microbial interactions that improve methanogen survival under oxygen stress through a novel mechanisms of oxygen-removing by heterotrophic partners. These findings establish a strong physiological and ecological foundation. The next step is to gain a deeper biochemical and molecular understanding of the enzymatic systems involved.
This research stay at the Institut de Biologie Structurale (IBS) in Grenoble will provide essential training for the final stage of my PhD. I will gain expertise in cultivating and genetically manipulating hyperthermophilic methanogens, as well as in protein purification and enzyme characterization. Besides, I will also contribute to their ongoing research on nitrate reductase pathways in methanogen Methanocaldococcus jannaschii. These activities directly support my fourth-year project and will connect physiological observations with molecular mechanisms, strengthen collaboration between my PhD lab MICROBE and Wagner lab at IBS, and expand my expertise in microbial metabolism and biotechnology.
Barbara Tomarchio
My PhD project at the Transportation and Mobility Laboratory investigates a new variant of the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) that integrates waste quality considerations into the routing solution. This new problem comes from a real-world application: the collection of organic waste.
In order to optimize organic waste collection while taking quality into account, Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) formulations were proposed and solved using a standard commercial solver. Although this approach guarantees optimality, it can only solve small instances within a reasonable time. In order to solve larger instances, a metaheuristic was adapted to our problem.
The objective of the research stay at Polytechnique Montréal under the supervision of Prof. Desaulniers is to develop an exact solution method for this new extension of the VRP based on column generation and branch-and-price algorithms to solve larger instances. This project is highly relevant to the doctoral research as it will enable the evaluation of the quality and efficiency of the developed metaheuristic.
Keivan Faghih Niresi
My PhD at EPFL investigates informed learning on graphs for computational sensing in intelligent infrastructure systems. Using tools from graph neural networks and graph signal processing, we have proposed mathematical methods to advance monitoring and decision-making across complex engineered systems, with the goal of developing robust and generalizable frameworks for real-world infrastructure systems such as district heating, water distribution networks, and environmental sensor networks.
During the initial stages of my research, we have developed methods for soft sensing and graph inference that integrate domain knowledge with data-driven approaches. Subsequently, I developed an unsupervised domain adaptation method tailored for spatial-temporal sensor fusion tasks. The next steps will focus on advancing uncertainty-aware graph neural networks and exploring their application to sensor calibration challenges in infrastructure monitoring systems.
To deepen this research, I will visit the Data, Vibration and Uncertainty Group at the University of Cambridge, led by Prof. Alice Cicirello—a group working at the intersection of data-driven approaches and uncertainty quantification. This academic stay will provide an opportunity to deepen my PhD thesis through proposing novel approaches for uncertainty quantification in sensor calibration. The collaboration will strengthen ties between EPFL and the University of Cambridge and contribute to advancing research in computational sensing and digital metrology.
Agathe Crosnier
My PhD at the Laboratory of Environmental and Urban Economics (LEURE) is part of the TRUE-COST-CH project and is focused on True Cost Accounting for Food (TCAF) applied at the Swiss level. I am developing a dynamic TCAF model and a user-friendly web tool, known as a calculator, to enable stakeholders to explore the sustainability of the Swiss agrifood system through the TCAF lens. To this end, I will develop new methods and metrics to broaden the current scope of TCAF methodology.
A major blind spot in TCAF are fisheries and aquaculture. Therefore, developing a TCAF methodology that considers the associated specific impacts is critical to provide a more holistic view of agri-food systems. Our team wants to account for the imported dietary impacts in Switzerland but lacks expertise in fisheries and aquaculture. For this reason, I plan to spend four months under the supervision of Prof. Sakai at UTokyo’s Laboratory of Global Fisheries Science. Prof. Sakai’s expertise in blue food and interdisciplinary research incorporating environmental and socioeconomic performance will allow to address this global issue with international expertise. The objectives of this academic visit are to adapt and develop a TCAF methodology for fisheries and aquaculture at the global scale and to include the results in our calculator.
I believe this visit will enable me to address a critical yet frequently overlooked topic in sustainability and foster collaborations with scientists researching agrifood systems.
Martin Boutroux
My PhD in the RIVER team aims at resolving the diversity and the role of viruses within alpine stream biofilms. A biofilm consists of microorganisms across all life domains forming surface-attached and matrix-embedded communities. This is the “Aliens vs. Predators” of PhDs in biology as it consists in looking at the struggle between the most common organism on the planet and the most common way of life for living organisms (thus excluding viruses).
To decipher these interactions, we sampled rocks and sediments from mountain ranges all over the world (11 mountain ranges on all continents except Antarctica) and extracted the DNA. Bioinformatic analysis allowed the DNA assembly of thousands of microorganisms. Among viruses, the most common are phages, which are viruses infecting bacteria.
Selective pressure is at play in this environment with bacteria using defense mechanisms to prevent viral infections, as well as viruses harboring counter-defense systems to bypass bacterial resistance and successfully propagate. Aude Bernheim’s team in Institut Pasteur Paris is one of the leaders in studying how bacteria defend themselves against viruses. My three-month stay with them will provide an opportunity to push my data analysis further and examine specific defense and antidefense patterns between viruses and their hosts within my understudied environment.
Marc Duran Sala
My PhD at EPFL investigates how urban diversity—recognized to foster quality of life—shapes climate, mobility patterns, and social inequalities within cities. Using tools from network science and statistical physics, I analyze high-resolution data on temperature, air pollution, and urban form across multiple cities, with the goal of developing a general framework to understand intra-urban variability and its impacts.
During the initial stages of my research, I developed a universal scaling framework to describe intra-urban climate variability across cities worldwide, linking climate patterns to the underlying urban morphology. The next steps will focus on exploring their impact on social inequalities and understanding the structure and mechanisms behind the diversity of points of interest and activities in urban environments.
To deepen this research, I will visit the Senseable City Lab at MIT, led by Prof. Carlo Ratti—a world-leading group operating at the intersection of cities, people, and technology. This academic stay will provide an opportunity to refine my models through innovative methodologies and explore new datasets related to urban diversity, human mobility, and climate. The collaboration will strengthen ties between EPFL and MIT and contribute to advancing research in urban complexity.
Yufei Zhang
My PhD study at the Engineering and Technology for Human-Oriented Sustainability Laboratory (ETHOS) aims to develop data-driven approaches that facilitate demand-flexible building management and overcome existing barriers to occupant-centric building operation strategies.
Over the past years, I developed a data-driven framework that disaggregates whole-building load metering by each system and extracts underlying occupancy levels from it. This framework can be integrated with the building load monitoring platform and assist building operators in evaluating the occupant responsiveness of current operation strategies. I plan to further explore data-driven solutions that suggest demand-flexible building system operations and organizational interventions to influence occupant behavior.
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) conducts pioneering studies in the field of building energy systems. During my academic visit there, I would like to expand and solidify my current work of building thermal and ventilation modeling and operation optimization. I could benefit from the team’s strong competence in data-driven modeling and rich engineering experience of building operations. I believe this visit will boost my PhD study to a holistic solution that is ready for real-world challenges of building management.
Lisa Jourdain
I am Lisa Jourdain, a PhD student at the Laboratory of Microbial Physiology and Resource Biorecovery (MICROBE). My research aims to develop mechanistic models of anaerobic digestion (AD) by integrating microbial physiology, metabolism, ecology, and operational factors. This work is crucial for optimizing the production of short-chain carboxylic acids from organic waste, contributing to resource recovery and the circular economy.
As part of my PhD, I have already conducted anaerobic enrichment experiments and am analyzing meta-omics data to understand community dynamics in AD systems. The next phase of my project focuses on rationally designing synthetic microbial communities for AD, based on metabolic insights from genome-scale metabolic models. To advance this phase, I will be hosted by Prof. Cremer at Stanford University.
Prof. Cremer’s expertise in microbial physiology modeling and his interdisciplinary background make his lab an ideal environment for enhancing the computational and theoretical aspects of my work. This visit will be instrumental in bridging experimental and computational approaches, enabling me to develop robust predictive models for AD that can optimize microbial community design for biotechnological applications.
Janisse Deluigi
The aim of my PhD at the Plant Ecology Research Laboratory (PERL) is to determine how warming and drought individually and simultaneously impact tree net carbon uptake and the potential role of biodiversity in modulating these effects in natural forests.
Over the past years, I conducted a climatic manipulation in open-top chambers and a field experiment in a natural forest in the warm and dry region of Valais, to assess trees responses and acclimation capacity to a warmer and drier climate and the modulating role of tree species interactions. During these experiments, I realized that while increasing species diversity is a forest management strategy widely used to mitigate climate change impacts, little is known about how these more diverse forests are created.
During my academic visit at the University of Freiburg, I will have the opportunity to work with Prof. Jürgen Bauhus, who is the leader of the Chair of Silviculture and has a deep knowledge on forest management and climate change ecology. Under his guidance, I would like to review how more climate-resistant forests are created, where do they occur and what are their consequences for ecosystem functions and processes, providing key information for the community working in this field and beyond.
Jaïr Campfens
My PhD research at EPFL focuses on using participatory modelling to develop sustainable energy scenarios. More specifically, my work integrates quantitative modelling approaches with socio-technical insights to achieve high shares of decentralized renewable energy for Swiss cities, midlands, and alpine regions.
During my academic visit to the Planning of Landscape and Urban Systems (PLUS) group, I will specialize myself in Dynamic Bayesian Networks (DBNs), which add a temporal dimension to traditional Bayesian Networks. These models will track changes in key energy indicators, such as greenhouse gas emissions, over time, making them highly relevant for long-term energy planning.
Through three workshops in the Swiss city of Winterthur, I will validate the DBNs with stakeholders, ensuring their practical applicability. By engaging with stakeholders, my research bridges the gap between theoretical models and practical implementation. This collaboration with the PLUS group will advance my research and contribute innovative tools for energy transition planning in Switzerland.